Today, my sweet baby boy turns 15!  Time surely does fly.  It seems that just yesterday, he was dancing around the living room in his long john jammies to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and coming home each day from kindergarten.  Cameron was the first grandchild on both sides of the family, so he was snuggled more than any baby I have seen.  And he certainly didn't want for clothes or toys. Cameron was such a sweet, inquisitive baby and he has grown into a sweet, inquisitive young man.  Now he wants for ipods, books, phones, books, cool clothes, books and lacrosse gear.  He helps me when the wii is making me mad and cooks.  He wants to mow the lawn and learn to drive.  15 is going to be a great year.

David snuggling the love of our life.

Wow, not only does Cameron look extremely young in these photos, but so do the rest of us.

Hoppie with her first grand baby.

Tia Jen, lovin' on Cameron.

Pappa playing with our boy.

And Meme feeling Cameron.

Cameron has brought so much joy to us from the moment he was born.  Today we wish him a day filled with fun, from the candle in his muffin this morning 'til he lays his head down for sleep tonight.  I am sure he will be dreaming of learners permits and girls, instead of Thomas the Tank Engine and Elmo.  That's our Camo!

We hope the next fifteen years are as amazingly wonderful as the first.  Happy Birthday!

The second "why" stage

Do you remember when your children were about four? That wonderful age when they asked you why everything happened. Why is the sky blue? Why do forks have four sharp points instead of 5? Why do I have to wear underwear? Why do you paint your toenails? Why doesn't that man in front of us in line have hair? Why does his wife have on a hat that looks like a dead raccoon?

It got a bit irritating at times, but it was so cute and innocent. It was also a right of passage. Our children were developing and growing all those wonderful brain cell. They were growing into inquisitive people. Then they outgrew this stage and it was a bit sad. Alas, they were growing up. Ok, that was about 10 years ago. These are my sweet, intelligent, lovable boys, right now.







Guess what? The why stage has returned and I am scared!

Mom, why ccaaaan't I use the power drill by myself? Why can't I go to school without a coat, even though it's 18 degrees? Why can't I drink only fruit juice and eat only Cheetos? Why can't I play the grossly violent video games that will permanently ruin my ability to sleep through the night and possibly lead to a life of crime? But, really, why? Are you sure that is the reason why? Does Dad think that is why? Why does Dad think that is why? Why do I have to comb my hair and brush my teeth, since they will just get messy again? Why do I have to do math? Why doesn't that man in front of us in line have hair? Why does his wife have on a hat that looks like a dead raccoon?

Somehow this is a harder "why" stage for me. Mostly because the questions are usually insanely complicated. In fact, I have decided that Google is my new best friend. Because, I have absolutely no idea why stop signs are red or why the drill bit spirals and rotates clockwise. I think it is also more difficult because I am not ready for them to independently use power tools or completely control their diet. Ah, they are growing up and it's a scary world out there.

I am going to keep praying that this stage will pass and that we all make it out alive.

The Kid Tree

This is our Kid Tree.

The tree is completely covered in ornaments made by the children.  The lime green sparkle tree is covered in crystallized pipe cleaners, toilet paper tube angels, hand print reindeer, and glitter stars, all made by my children's sweet little hands. We love redecorating it each year and adding any newly created masterpieces.

This tradition started in our family when Cameron was old enough to bring home ornaments from day care.  Every time a person came to our house, he would want to show them his creations on the big tree.  This, of course, was not the safest activity for a toddler and led to a few near tragedies.  The next year, we started with a small craft store tree for their creations.  We have had this sparkly tree for about 3 years and it adds a bit of fun to our tradition.  If you decide to stop by and check it out, you can't miss it.  We keep our special little tree right in the foyer.

I have discovered that there is one sad part to this tree... There were very few ornaments added this year.  The kiddos are growing up and they no longer bring home ornaments for us from school.  Ella still makes one here or there, but mostly we have passed that stage.  I hope the children will keep wanting to get the tree out each year, so we can ooh and ah over all their past creations.  Otherwise, I would miss those brown dough gingerbread men, beaded wreathes, and origami stars.

Watch Dog

Our dog, Gracie, is not your traditional watch dog.  Don't get me wrong, she is happy to bark loudly at anyone.  Even us, when we get home.  But as soon as she sees who it is, she either wags her entire body with happiness or tucks her tail.  Our watch dog, likes to watch us.  She is watching me right now!

She also loves to watch lizards, birds, squirrel, chipmunks, and her specialty, bunnies.  Here she is waiting for the lizard to come back.  Hours of Gracie's life are spent watching for lizards.  I think Jack taught her this.

Since her main job is watching us, she had mastered this task.  If anyone leaves town, or even has an all day activity, you can tell that she is just not happy.  She must take attendance constantly.  When we are not all present and accounted for, it is time for worry, anxiety, and whining.  David is out of town, so Gracie is spending an insane amount of time on her bed looking sad and moaning.  Poor Gracie, Daddy will be home soon.  That's love baby.

Knitting Insanity

Anyone who knows me knows that I like to make things and I tend to take the hard road on many things.  For years, I crocheted tons of hats in all shapes and sizes.  Then one day I decided I needed to branch out, so I started knitted.  This really did not go well.  As my husband would ask, "Is crocheting the one where you watch tv while working or the one where you curse a lot?"  After much cursing, going back to the store for help and starting over, I finally started to "get" the knitting.  See, here is a hat and a scarf.

So now you must know what happens next.  I thought I needed to try something a little harder plus I needed to make this wonderful hexagon blanket pattern I had found for my friend Shruti.  Her baby is due at the end of November and she is having a girl.  The beginning of this pattern did not go well.  It starts off with multiple double ended needles which looked like a giant jigsaw puzzle to me and I had decided to use some funky mixed color yarn I had.  After finally getting the multi-needle thing to work (that would be try number 3), I decided that my masterpiece looked more like a birds nest than a baby blanket.

So, being the wonderful person I am, I started over again.  This time I went and purchased a smoother yarn, and it was soooo soft.  This looks more like it, don't you think?

Well, after I got it onto the round needles things went much better.

In fact I finished this entire blanket on our 4 day trip to the beach.  I think it turned out cute.

If you want to try it, you will need this book:  http://www.amazon.com/Welcoming-Home-Baby-Handcrafted-Way/dp/1416206272

Pancakes

I recently discovered some pictures that I thought were lost.  I am so happy.  My camera completely bit the dust in the middle of the Pancake Pantry.  It felt like a tragedy, because I really loved that camera.  It was the perfect shove-in-your-pocket, go-anywhere, great-zoom-in-small-box camera.  To make matters worse, it was right when Ella received her first Pancake Pantry pancakes.  Since Ella was allergic to eggs, breakfast restaurants were pretty much out.  Last year, she outgrew her allergy to cooked eggs.  As a little celebration, we headed for the pancakes. This is us waiting in line on a cold morning before Christmas.  Hoppie is trying to warm Cameron, then Jack wanted to get warm too.  And you know, Ella couldn't be left out of the group snuggle.

Then I took a few in restaurant.

These are the ones I thought were lost.  In my infinite brilliance, I decided to save the sd card from the broken camera.  Unfortunately, it did not occur to me to put is some place I would actually remember.  From there on out, I used my phone.  I love my phone too.  Great in these emergency photo situations.  Especially since I was able to capture the special moment, the arrival of the bear shaped chocolate chip pancakes.  Yum!

Ella loved every bite.  I am so glad I finally happened upon the sd card.  Are you just dying to know where it was?  Ahh, in the new camera.  And since the new camera is smarter than I am, it had tucked them away in a separate "not mine" folder.  Luckily, I needed to read the card directly last time I imported photos and there they were.

Lemon:Aid

Ella has been selling lemonade for the Blood:Water mission, which drills wells or creates a sustainable water source in African villages.  If you want more info on this visit:  http://www.bloodwatermission.com/

Anyway, back to the lemonade stand.  We received a kit for the Lemon:Aid program in the spring and Ella has loved using it.  I had to laminate our second sign, because the first one was a victim of sticky lemonade fingers.  Ella is an excellent saleswoman.  She has recruited helpers.  This is Eva helping in the summer.

Then, Jack has helped multiple times.  But, Ella is also happy to man the stand by herself.

The last time we were in Florida, we could not get small cups.  This meant that Ella only had the $1 size of lemonade available.  Ella spent about 3 hours singing her lemonade song and running in for refills.  Toward the end, two men pulled up in a golf cart.  The man in the passenger seat leaned out and asked, "How much is the lemonade?"  Ella informed him that it was $1.  He asked, "Isn't that a little expensive?"  Ella looked right at him and firmly said, "I'm trying to build wells in Africa, here."  The man in the drivers seat replied, "We'll take two."  That's my girl!